Love You to the Stars and Back

I hadn't heard about the 2017 Filipino movie "Love You to the Stars and Back" before now in 2022, as I happened to stumble upon it by random chance. And seeing the cover, I thought it was just another run-of-the-mill romantic comedy that The Philippine cinema tends to spew out by the dozens. However, as I hadn't already seen the movie, of course I opted to give it a chance.

Writer and director Antoinette Jadaone really surprised me with this movie. Sure, the movie starts out like any other generic romantic comedy, but then the storyline starts to develop and this movie went from being just mediocre to downright amazing in a short time. I was so amazed with the storyline concocted and brought to the screen by Antoinette Jadaone, it is such a display of creative talent and a knack for writing something truly heartfelt and emotional.

Now, I am not overly familiar with the Filipino cinema, but have seen a handful or two of movies therefrom, but I have to admit that "Love You to the Stars and Back" is without a doubt the best and most outstanding of movies I have seen come from the Filipino cinema. I am so happy that I opted to sit down and watch "Love You to the Stars and Back", because it really is a heartfelt story and such a memorable movie.

Needless to say that I am not familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, given my limited familiarity with the Filipino cinema, but leading actor Joshua Garcia and leading actress Julia Barretto put on such powerhouse performances that it has to be experienced. I was really impressed with their performances on the screen, both together and individually. They really took the well-written script from Antoinette Jadaone and made it their movie.

"Love You to the Stars and Back" is a movie that you simply have to watch. This is such a beautiful movie that it is more than well-worth taking the time and effort to watch. This movie is the type of movie that will get under the skin and stick with you for a long, long time - and I mean that in a positive way, of course.

My rating of "Love You to the Stars and Back" lands on a well-deserved eight out of ten stars.

After the success of Vince & Kath & James comes Love You To The Stars And Back starring Julia Barretto and Joshua Garcia. The pair proved to be a success the second time around in this Antoinette Jadaone vehicle, about a girl that feels so out of place she'd rather be abducted by aliens, who along the way meets a boy who'd rather join her than go back to his family because he feels like a burden to them. Will they leave everything behind and start anew or stay and realize that all they need is already right in front of them?

You cannot be faulted if initially you compared this to A Walk to Remember or The Fault in our Stars, about starstruck lovers trying to defy the odds as Caloy played by Garcia has only 12 months to live due to being diagnosed with leukemia. Although the movie has its weak spots (wondering if it's due to LYTTSAB being moved up earlier due to complications with their supposed to be second movie Unexpectedly Yours,) you will find that you can hold a conversation about this movie on its own and that's a sign of good writing.

In my initial review for Barretto on Vince & Kath & James, you can't deny she is beautiful but needs to improve her acting. She did okay here, but the way she talks is distracting and affects the impact of the delivery of her lines. For Garcia, I mentioned V&K&J was his breakout movie but he cemented here that he is his own actor, shed away some of the John Lloyd school of acting and we can't fault him that he overshadowed Barretto. I mean the guy owned almost every scene that he was in. With their partnership combusting earlier than expected, here's hoping we see more great things from him in the future.

I think this movie deserves more . I love the plot , the characters, the story. Well played. Julia and Joshua has real chemistry. Deserves a second chance for team comeback. Two thumbs up!

Various peculiar movies have been long acceptable, whether it be about zombies, monsters, or even aliens and it was a challenge to make a compelling and convincing film out of such unnatural themes. Philippine cinema has only made a few that is the why I was quite intrigued and excited when Star Cinema made a film as odd as this. I thought it was bold and progressive at the same time as it doesn't follow a normal routine Filipino movies do. However, the movie disappointed me. For a few reasons, one - the questionable character of Mika and her mother. The film did not show a strong basis to justify their beliefs to supernatural beings. In turn, I did not saw depth to their personalities. They failed to hook me with their eccentricity. Two - the delivery. I cringed the whole time to the upbeat conversation between Caloy and Mika.They look uncontained and importunate together. Perhaps they did it for charm but to me it seems unrealistic to find acquaintances continuously and playfully arguing over the shallowest things. I thought it would be more fitting if instead of disagreeing with one another, they would use the time to explain themselves and discuss their bizarre theories, hence, revealing more about their characters. (I was referring to the carabao-eating-humans part) It's wasteful for me.

Stumbled upon this movie on Netflix by chance and I couldn't be more grateful.

The movie made me laugh and then cry in a lot of places.

It was an emotional roller-coaster and it touches us in the right spots.

The story even though might be a tried and tested storyline, Julia and Joshs' acting brought the movie to a whole new level.

This movie will remain different from the other's of the same story line only because of them.

I am an Indian and my level of respect for Filipino actors have gone 100× higher because of them.

Treasure them because they are gonna change the face of the Philippines TV/film industry.